miércoles, julio 15, 2015

Agroecology Can Fix Our Broken Food System

An article puts forward a way to fix our broken food system characterized by exploited and underpaid farm and food workers, fragmented forested landscapes, global warming, and the growing number of hungry. Although “sustainable food” has been the buzzword for the solution for three decades, the writer states that its many incarnations have not addressed the underlying structures and forces of the failed agri-food system, which she states are no less than those underlying the world economy with its brand of socially, ecologically and morally untenable capitalism. Furthermore, it lacks a science with which to deal with a system as complex as farming and food.

The writer offers agroecology as the answer. Agroecology is described as "an approach that embraces complexity and change" where farmers and researchers work together to develop farming practices that enhance soil fertility, recycle nutrients, optimize the use of energy and water, increase the beneficial interactions of organisms with and within their ecosystems, provides the farm with ecological resilience, and reduces dependence on costly and harmful conventional inputs. The article cites evidence that shows agroecology can outperform conventional agriculture and feed the world.

Latin America has led the agroecological revolutionin recent years and official international recognition is taking place, but it is slow. The writer calls for everyone to spread the word "agroecology" as the language and logic to guide our transition to a holistic food system.